Divine Virtue
by Glaceon Mage
Summary: [Oneshot] Soren continues chasing his best friend's dream, trailing the mysterious boy who seemed to be the key to it all.


**Divine Virtue**

They tried to stop her.

They were divine. The divine were not meant to meddle with humanity. They left them their gift, and if they fought over it, be that as it may.

But that little girl wanted naught to do with the Golden Goddesses' pacifism.

Her tears became oceans as the fighting went on. So many lands, Hyrule, Labrynna, Holodrum, all were lost beneath her crashing tears.

Only one of the golden goddesses bothered to intervene, at first. She chose to create mountains for the survivors of the pouring tears to live on.

The girl reached the last of the warring continents. A second goddess intervened. The divine girl split in two, and one of them enlisted aide in sealing away the other. The blue flames of the sobbing girl became the legend of the last continent of their world.

And yet, the fighting continued. After over six hundred years, the imprisoned girl's seal snapped. However, the other half, the half who sealed her away, chose to destroy the last continent, even without her emotion filled other half.

In time, both halves of the girl vanished from the world.

The years since she vanished became centuries. The fighting had ended. All was at peace.

...

It had been four hundred twenty-five years that the green-tressed branded had been looking for a continent beyond the shores of Tellius. His companion, his one true friend, was long since dead, and the only thing he could do was continue attempting to realize his dream.

He didn't want to turn back, to return to the continent he was born on, to return to the hatred and discrimination of his infancy. But by this point, it could be believed that he was searching for an invisible needle in a haystack as high as the the tower southeast of the last merchant isle he had visited.

It was odd though, that same tower had appeared a mere six months before. It rose from the sea, tall and mighty as the water spilled from it.

The boy didn't dismiss it. The moment it appeared, he immediately set his course for it, believing it could be the answer he was looking for. When he arrived, all he saw was a small child, a boy no older than nine, dressed in the green of fields, vanish beneath the sea alongside the red sailboat on which he rode.

He had believed the boy was dead, at first. His boat had sunk into the crashing waves, after all. But when he last visited the merchants at Windfall for supplies, he kept hearing tales of a green clothed child doing favors for everyone in town.

And not just in Windfall were the tales heard. In all four corners of the sea, words were traded of the child people were coming to refer to as "Hero". They claimed he had the ability to control the breeze and change day to night in an instant.

The branded came to a single conclusion.

He was the key to his friend's last wish. He could hear his friend's voice grow louder in the back of his mind, the endless chant of "Soren" telling him that he would achieve his goal soon, because of this boy.

He believed that, clinging to the ray of hope this boy brought.

…

It had been six years. The boy Soren believed was the key to his friend's dream was now fifteen, working with a group of pirates in search of the same thing he was.

New land, new tomorrow, new legends to build, that was their goal.

It was only after those six long years that they found it, the continent they hoped to mold into their own.

Soren remained in the shadows of a forest on their continent. He watched as the new civilization began forming, the pirate leader as queen.

…

Two more years passed. The pirates had vanquished the demon that rose the year before, the boy, known to them as the "Hero of the Winds", front and center of the victory. He was the queen of the chessboard, the most powerful piece.

And here he was, playing with the forest animals before Soren's eyes.

He played with them in the strangest of ways. He took out a silver baton, keeping rhythm as the animals sang cheerful tunes.

His state of mind was impossible to read. He played with the animals, smiling as he did so. He hid in the trees, fearful of what the future may hold. Soren couldn't discern why he chose this strange way of life, over the love of the pirate girl's kingdom.

When Soren finally emerged from the shadows, he was absolutely terrified.

"Why are you here?" was his first demand. "I'm a hero, you know. I can fight."

"I was wondering the same about you." Was the reply the Hero of the Winds promptly and curtly received from the cold half-dragon.

"That is for myself to know. And no one else." The Hero of Winds drew his blade, pointing it at Soren.

"You fear something."

"We all have fears."

"Hmph." The boy hopped down from his perch. "Are you prepared?"

"Prepared?"

"To die."

"I've been prepared for the last two years."

"Dying is simply running away." The boy raised his blade, and Soren saw a glint of gold gleaming on the back of his sword hand.

"Is that not what you are doing by hiding here?"

The boy paused, silent. "The reason I'm here is not for my own safety. I'd be much safer in the castle."

"So why are you here?"

"The curse the gods granted upon humanity brings naught but hate, naught but suffering, naught but strife." The boy answered. "I left the castle, left Tetra, left Niko, left Aryll, left everyone, for the sake of protecting them from the curse."

Soren's grasp on Rexcalibur tightened. He'd kept it as the last shred of Tellius he had.

"Something will come to find the power I bear, greed overwhelming their heart. And I refuse to repeat my last mistake. They can search and search, but I will continue to ensure that they shall never find the Triforce of Courage."

Soren was silent.

"The power of the gods is alluring to the weak. So anyone who finds it, finds me, cannot be allowed to live. If I let them go, my location, the location of this power, could easily slip their tongue. So I ask once more. Are you prepared?"

Soren just looked at the boy for a moment. He closed his eyes as the face of a blue haired mercenary filled his mind.

"...Yes."

The blade drove through him the moment he uttered the word.

...

I didn't want to kill an innocent.

But I didn't want the past to repeat.

If the path to ensure the Triforce is never used for evil is one spattered with bloody paint, that is the path I must walk.

Jumping into the open just begets destruction.

I learned that at the age of nine.

If running despite the pain it brings is the only way... If that is the courage I must show...

Then this boy's life had to be taken in place of the legions I left.

* * *

**Written for the Serenes Forest "Write Your Butt off!" Writing Competition 1.**

**~Glaceon Mage**


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